


Seasons

by eternalscout



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M, Short One Shot, a harassed coffee patron (one guess who), an overenthusiastic coffee shop employee (one guess who), obscene amounts of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-11-24 11:11:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20906714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternalscout/pseuds/eternalscout
Summary: Lio stops by Burning Rescue, the best coffee shop in the university area, to finish a paper he has due. Galo is terrible at flirting. Will they kiss?!





	Seasons

**Author's Note:**

> Please excuse the formatting. It is refusing to cooperate with me and I have given up in despair.

****

**~*Spring*~**

“Welcome to Burning Rescue!” Galo practically shouted at the top of his lungs.

The young man who’d been waiting for them to unlock the front door of the coffee shop blinked owlishly back at him. It was barely daylight out, though, the shop catered particularly to the university crowd. Rumors always circulated that they’d eventually go to a full 24/7 schedule but it hadn’t happened yet. The only thing likely stopping the owner, Ignis Ex, was fear of a mutiny.

“You’re going to scare the customers off,” Aina chided, grabbing Galo by the arm and pulling him back inside so their lone customer could enter.

“Not true!” Galo protested. “No one would risk missing out on the best coffee in the world!”

“Please excuse him,” Remi piped up, helping Aina drag Galo back behind the counter.

Their patron didn’t step any further inside until Galo was safely restrained in the back of the shop. He rubbed absently at one eye as he studied the menu with the other. Even amongst the university crowd, his style of dress was...unique. Something along the lines of Victorian goth, if Remi had to put a label on it. 

“Double shot of espresso,” the man mumbled, sounding as awake as he looked.

“Do you want anything to eat with that?” Galo bellowed from the back.

Remi shot the swinging door a _look_.

“Which answer is more likely to get him to leave me alone?” the man prompted.

“Neither.”

He gave a heavy sigh. “A chocolate croissant then, I guess.”

“For here or to go?”

“Here.” Even as he said the word, he looked like he was reconsidering it. He glanced back toward the door. Galo stayed blessedly silent.

He paid in cash before tottering over to one of the tables by the front window, which also happened to be as far from Galo as one could manage. A man after his own heart, Remi was convinced.  
More customers began to slowly trickle in, though most were grabbing to go orders on their way to work. The students would roll in closer to midday. Their first customer seemed to have settled in, having whipped out a Macbook that he was now typing furiously on with a single minded focus.

Aina tried to grab the plate with the croissant from Galo’s hand as he exited the kitchen, but missed. Rather than risk causing him to spill the hot coffee he held in his other hand, she let him go with a soft sigh of defeat. He was their newest employee as well as their most enthusiastic. Nothing seemed to dampen his chipper mood, which simultaneously drew and repelled customers. Regardless, the tip jar had never been fuller before his arrival so the rest of the staff couldn’t complain too much.

“Didn’t catch your name,” Galo offered on reaching the man’s table.

The man didn’t glance up from his laptop as he said, “I wasn’t aware you needed it.”

“I like to get to know all the regulars. I’m Galo, by the way. You a student too?”

He finally lifted his head, his long hair brushing his shoulders with the gesture. His eyes zeroed in on the cup of coffee Galo was apparently holding hostage. 

“I’m not a regular.”

“But you’ve got the potential. I can tell,” Galo insisted with a wide grin. “So?”

The man narrowly resisted pinching the bridge of his nose, a caffeine headache already threatening him. “Lio. Are you happy now?”

Galo set the drink and pastry down with a flourish before putting his hands on both hips and standing proud. “A pleasure to meet you, Lio! You need anything, you just give a shout and I’ll come running.”

“Uh huh.”

Someone shouted Galo’s name from the front and Lio sagged in relief when the exuberant man finally left him in peace. A regular? There wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of that ever happening.

**~*Summer*~**

“Lio! My man! I hope you’re having a phenomenal morning this morning!”

Lio stared at Galo before turning to abruptly walk away. Galo had his hand wrapped around the handle of his backpack before he could get far, physically hauling him into the shop. Lio’s arms pinwheeled as he staggered backward.

“Are you out of your mind!?”

“You were really just gonna walk away without even a good morning?”

“Rookie! Unhand the customer!” Ignis barked. With the manager out sick, he was filling in for the day. He cut a rather intimidating picture despite his uniform and apron.

“I’ve been here for months now,” Galo protested. “How can you still call me a rookie? Varys is the real rookie! I’ve been here longer than him!”

“Varys doesn’t act like a rookie,” Ignis admonished. “Sorry, young man, how may we help you this morning?”

“You haven’t been back in a while,” Galo cut in, crossing his arms. “Are you trying to tell me that espresso wasn’t the best you’ve ever had?”

Lio stared at him as if he’d grown a second head. “I have been in this shop exactly one time.”

“Stalker alert,” Lucia piped up as she stepped around them to go and refill the sugar.

“You call it stalking, I call it good customer service!” Galo protested. “So what was wrong? Why haven’t you been back? I told you that you’d be a regular!”

“Gee, I wonder,” Lio drawled, leaning to one side in order to see the menu around the other man’s far too aggressively tall hair.

“Fine, fine, I’ll leave you alone,” Galo lamented, huffing as he turned to walk away. 

Judging by how Ignis watched him with narrowed eyes, Lio was convinced he shouldn’t consider this a victory. He placed his order and retreated to the same table he’d sat at all those months ago when he’d stopped in to finish working on the paper he’d had due in only a few hours.

He’d barely gotten his laptop out when Galo reappeared with his double espresso and chocolate croissant. He stared up at him in disbelief.

“I only just placed the order.”

Galo grinned. “Regulars have regular orders. Call it an educated guess.”

“Are you this aggressive with all of your customers?”

Galo’s grin only widened. “I was right though, wasn’t I? Admit it, I was right.”

Lio was convinced that was the last thing he would ever do. He wasn’t feeding this lunatic’s overinflated ego.

“Someone with good customer service skills would have given me my order already,” he countered.

Galo snorted, still holding the cup and plate. “At least tell me what you’re studying. You’re a student too, aren’t you?”

“Why in the world do you need to know?”

“Because you’re a regular!”

“Not if you keep this up!”

A gleam Lio didn’t trust entered the other man’s eye. “So if I leave you alone you’ll come back sooner?”

“Sure. Fine. Whatever.”

Galo silently set the coffee and pastry down and retreated back to the counter. 

True to his word, he didn’t say another thing to Lio until he got up to leave nearly two hours later.

“See you tomorrow, Lio!”

“Like hell you will,” he muttered to himself, pulling the coffee shop door closed behind him with a little more force than strictly necessary.

**~*Fall*~**

“Gooood morning, Mr. English Major!” Galo offered with far too much cheer for it being so godawfully early in the morning.

Lio grunted, as had become his habit. He’d long come to accept that Galo was an unrepentant morning person. It was one of his many, many, many annoying qualities.  
Though Galo had managed to weasel bits and pieces about his life out of him over the intervening months, he’d managed to keep his aggressive “customer service” to a minimum which was _the only_ reason Lio kept coming back.

He never would’ve admitted it, but the absolute faintest of smiles came to his face when Galo rang him up without him having to say a word. He handed over some cash, dropping his few bills of change into the tip jar before retreating to his table.

It took longer to get his order today, causing him to glance up at the counter more than once while he waited. The caffeine headache was becoming more and more of an imminent danger when Galo finally approached the table. Oddly enough, he had a tray this time with two drinks on it in addition to the pastry.  
Lio frowned when Galo set both drinks down on the table.

“I only ordered one.”

“Think of the other as a birthday present.”

Lio gaped. “How the hell did you know it was my birthday?”

Galo rolled his eyes. “You told me, remember? I asked what your plans were for the weekend when you came in the other day and you said you were celebrating late because you had a paper due on Wednesday.”

He paused, looking pointedly at the extra cup. Lio followed his gaze, staring blankly down at the oddly shaped foam on top.

“What the hell is that?”

Galo looked affronted. “I’m learning latte art. Can’t you tell?”

Lio leaned closer, trying to make out the image with no luck. He finally hazarded, “A horse?”

“A horse?! It’s a rat!”

That left Lio even more confused. “...a rat?”

“Vinny! Lucia’s pet rat! He’s kind of like the unofficial shop mascot.”

Lio shot a worried glance back toward the kitchen. “...she doesn’t bring him in, does she?”

Galo’s sudden look of innocence made him shudder.

“You realize that’s got to be a health violation of some kind, don’t you? You can’t just bring pets into a coffee shop, let alone rats.”

“Do you like the latte art or not?” Galo demanded by way of answer.

“I didn’t order two coffees. Did you charge me for two coffees?”

Galo reached over, putting his hands on both of Lio’s shoulders. Lio gave a start, the entirety of his attention suddenly on Galo’s far too close face.

“Do you like the art or not?” Galo repeated. The look he wore implied Lio’s answer meant a great deal to him. 

Lio’s mouth went dry and he blinked owlishly back at him. Galo’s face began to fall.

“It’s...It’s very creative!” he finally blurted.

Galo brightened immediately. “I’m thinking of calling it Ratte Latte!”

“You’re thinking of calling it what now?”

Galo released his shoulders, turning back toward the counter where Remi was taking orders. “I told you he’d like it!” he shouted.

Lio felt his face warm. “I didn’t say I liked it.”

“He loves it!” Galo continued. “Said he wants all his coffees made this way! Said it’s the best coffee he’s ever had!”

Remi looked as if he didn’t believe that for an instant, but was too polite to say as much in front of the customer.

“...I definitely didn’t say that,” Lio protested.

Galo couldn’t be dissuaded. Instead he clapped Lio hard on the back with a wide grin. “Happy birthday, man!”

Lio gaped at his retreating back.

**~*Winter*~**

Lio stared down at the blob of foam in his coffee which looked more like a marshmallow that had been beaten into the shape of a rat. Still, he had to admit that Galo had come a long way with his self-proclaimed latte art. He was a fairly good judge of it by this point, having had more involuntary Ratte Lattes than he could count. They weren’t officially called that on the menu, but the name had somehow stuck. If the owner wondered at the reasoning behind the odd drink, Lio hadn’t heard as much.

The warm drink was a nice way to combat the cool morning. He’d bundled himself up before leaving the dorm in a gray peacoat, scarf, and mittens, but even that hadn’t been enough to get rid of the entirety of the chill in the air.

“So, what do you think?” Galo demanded. “Do you like the newest version?”

“It’s lovely. A...very good likeness,” Lio managed after a moment.

“How would you know if it’s a good likeness or not?”

He glanced up. “Most rats have a similar look to them, don’t they? Please don’t bring hers out for comparison if it’s here. I prefer to pretend that this establishment is up to code.”

Galo gave a deep belly laugh. “Sure, I’ll give you that. But d’you think this one’ll be as popular as the original?”

“Perhaps moreso. This one will show up better in pictures, I think.”

Galo winked. “That’s the plan. So, d’you wanna tell me why you ordered two drinks and two croissants this morning? Hot date?” The way he asked the question, it was almost as though he was afraid of the answer.

Lio snorted softly. “If I recall, this time it’s your birthday. I thought I might treat you.”

“By making me do double the work?” Despite the jab, he was grinning ear to ear.

“Shut up and take it before I change my mind.”

“I’ll do you one better,” Galo retorted, flopping down into the seat across from him.

“That is not what I meant.”

He offered him a chesire cat grin before taking far too large of a bite of his own croissant. He finished it and the hot drink in record time. Lio tried to ignore the small pang of...something that arose as a result.

“Leaving so soon?” he prompted. He’d meant it to sound teasing, but it came out far more plaintive than he would’ve liked. 

Galo put his hands on his hips, staring down at him. He quirked a brow.

“...what?” Lio hazarded.

“If I don’t work hard, I can’t get off my shift early and make you go celebrate with me.”

“Hold on now, I never said anything about celebrating with you.”

“Didn’t have to,” Galo said. He leaned down, pressing a light kiss to his lips in front of the coffee shop owner and what felt like half the planet.

Warmth that had nothing to do with his jacket or meal shot through Lio, causing his lips to part with an inaudible gasp. Galo winked at him before swaggering away.

“You better be back at three when I get off!” he called back to him.

“Like hell I will,” Lio huffed under his breath.

He came back for the first time ever for a second coffee at two. Much to his dismay, Galo had apparently spent the entirety of his shift coming up with their “couple name.” If he hadn’t been convinced he was in over his head before, he certainly was now.  
Not that that stopped the two of them from leaving the shop with their mittened hands wrapped around each other.


End file.
